A Family
by Ellie603
Summary: Monica and Chandler finally have the babies they've been wanting for years. Even with all the problems they had along the way, everything worked out for them. A missing moment from "The Last One"


_A/N: I'm so happy that I finally got a chance to write this. I finished my homework pretty early today for the exclusive purpose of being able to write after dinner. I feel like I could have maybe gone more in depth with this one, but I really just wanted something simple to finish out my Mondler baby missing moments arc, so this is what I did. (Check out "Someday Could Be Today," 'Stupid Fights," "Figuring Things Out," and "Anything" if you haven't already. They're the other four stories that go with this one.) Thanks to the lovely guest review on "Home" that suggested I do something with Mondler after they bring Jack and Erica home from the hospital._

_I really hope I can get my __next story (or at least part of it) up sometime soon. I'm going in a whole different direction with this next one, and I'm really excited about it. Sophomore year of college is a lot of work, but I should be able to make time for this. _

_Disclaimer: I don't own Friends, but some dialogue is taken from "The Last One."_

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><p>Monica and Chandler stood in a hospital room, each cradling a tiny baby. Monica knew that she wouldn't have been able to stop smiling even if she tried. She and Chandler had two perfect little kids: a boy and a girl. It was like a dream come true. She remembered waiting around in a hospital almost two years before as she and Chandler decided they wanted to try to have a baby. Then, almost a year after that, she and Chandler had found out that it would be nearly impossible for them to get pregnant. After days of sadness and uncertainty, they had ended up staring out their window overlooking the city imagining that somewhere out there a little baby was being conceived that they could eventually adopt. It had been a long, hard road, but they had done it. Chandler had convinced Erica to pick them to adopt her baby, and here they were, and not with the one baby they had been planning for, but rather with two.<p>

Monica knew that Chandler was a bit freaked out at the prospect of double the children without any warning, but he seemed to be becoming more and more okay with everything as time passed. Now that they were each actually holding one of their little babies, Chandler looked just as happy as she was. They were parents! Finally, _finally_, parents.

"Do you think they recognize each other from in there?" Monica asked Chandler, almost laughing, as she nodded her head toward Erica on the other side of the room.

Chandler grinned back at her. "Maybe. Unless they're like two people who've lived in apartments next to each other for years, and then one day they're pushed through a vagina and they meet."

Monica stared at her husband for a moment before rolling her eyes slightly and laughing. Hopefully Chandler's sense of humor wouldn't do too much damage to the new additions to their family.

"We're going to take Erica to recovery now," said a nurse behind them.

Monica turned and walked over to the woman who had done this wonderful thing for them. "There's something that we wanted to tell you," Monica began as she looked down at Erica before throwing a quick glance back at Chandler who was following her. She smiled. "We decided to name the girl baby 'Erica.'"

Monica watched as adult Erica's eyes grew wide and her mouth fell open.

"Oh my God, that's just like my name!" she said, clearly shocked.

Monica figured it was just best to humor the young woman. "Son of a gun, it is!"

Erica smiled up at her and Chandler. "Anyway, I'm gonna go get some rest. I'm really glad I picked you guys. You're gonna make great parents, even Chandler!"

Monica teared up a bit at Erica's words, and she saw Chandler beside her beaming.

They said their goodbyes as Erica was wheeled out of the room, Monica promising to call the young woman and Chandler telling her to have fun at church camp.

They were left alone. Just her and Chandler and their two little Bings: the girl named Erica and the boy named Jack, after her father.

Again, Monica had to almost laugh because she was smiling so much. "Look at these little buddies!" she said, still partially in awe that these two beautiful kids were theirs.

"You ready to trade?" Chandler asked her.

"Okay," Monica replied, but, after a few tries, they found that trying to pick up a baby while handing another one off was more difficult than they had anticipated.

"We could trade later?" Chandler suggested.

Monica agreed. "Yeah, I'm good."

After a few minutes, Monica and Chandler had to put down the babies to sign a few final forms and call everyone to tell them the good news. Or at least part of the good news. She and Chandler had decided to let the fact that it was twins be a surprise for their friends. They rushed through all the signatures, phone calls, and other final hospital formalities so they could get back to the apartment as quickly as possible. Rachel was leaving for the airport very soon, and they had to hurry.

It took a bit of work getting everything together and finally making it into a cab, especially with two babies to take care of, but they did it and soon found themselves on the way back to their building.

Just a few blocks from home, Monica pulled out her phone and called their apartment, knowing that Joey and Phoebe, at least, would be there.

"Hello?" Joey's voice came through Monica's phone.

"Joey!" Monica said, both happy and slightly worried. "Has Rachel left yet?"

"No," he replied quickly. "She's still here, but you've gotta hurry."

"We are," Monica said relieved. "We'll in a cab right now; we'll be there any minute. And make sure everyone's there because we have a big surprise!"

"Okay?" Joey responded, clearly sounding confused. "We'll see you guys then."

"See you." Monica hung up the phone.

Chandler looked at her, clearly curious about Rachel.

"She hasn't left yet," Monica explained. "We should be good."

Chandler nodded, letting his smile grow bigger as he looked down at little baby Erica in his arms. "So when we get there, why don't you go in first with Jack and everyone can get excited about him, and then I'll walk in with Erica and see how long it takes for them to notice."

Monica grinned at her husband. "Perfect."

A few minutes later, their cab pulled up to their building as they quickly hurried out. She and Chandler grabbed their things, plus a baby each, and then made their way up the steps to the apartment.

As they reached their floor, they saw that their door was wide open. Chandler hung back with Erica, and he motioned for Monica to go ahead.

"Hey!" Monica said happily, walking into her apartment, pleased to see that her four closest friends, plus Mike, were all there waiting for them.

The other five quickly surrounded her and baby Jack, reaching out to touch her and the baby and offering soft "oh my God"s and "welcome home"s every few seconds.

"Hey," she heard Chandler outside the ring of their friends.

"Hi," everyone said, opening the circle so they could each face him for a moment before turning back to Monica and the baby she was holding.

Monica watched Chandler with a huge smile. Three. Two. One.

Rachel and Ross gasped simultaneously, as Phoebe and Mike stared.

"Hey, so what is the big surprise?" Joey asked Monica, in typical Joey fashion.

Everyone stared at him silently for a moment as he looked from Monica to Chandler and back to Monica before finally gasping too.

Monica and Chandler explained to their friends that the babies were twins and that they were named Jack and Erica. They set them down together in the bassinette as everyone continued to crowd around them.

Finally, Rachel said she had to go. Monica gave her one final hug, and Rachel started to back away from the gang, saying that she couldn't say goodbye again.

As Rachel pulled Ross aside, Monica and Chandler returned to staring at the two babies in the bassinette. Monica knew that Ross and Rachel were having some sort of moment by the door, and she knew that Phoebe and Joey were watching, but she couldn't look away from Jack and Erica. They were her and Chandler's babies. Theirs! Actually theirs! Monica had barely known them for a few hours, and she already loved them more than anything in the world, except for maybe Chandler. She was just so excited to actually be a mom.

Bits of conversation between Ross, Phoebe, and Joey floated through the air around her as Rachel finally left.

"Maybe sleeping together was the perfect way to say goodbye," Joey said to Ross behind her.

Monica turned to Chandler, completely confused. "They slept together?"

"I was with you," Chandler replied, just slightly exasperated, staring at her.

After a minute of debating things over with himself, Ross decided that he wanted to go after Rachel, and he rushed out the door, Phoebe offering to drive him to the airport, screaming excitedly.

"Oh my God," Joey said, grinning, as he shut the door behind them. "Ross is going after Rachel. And you guys have babies! This is like the best day ever!"

As Joey was talking, Monica noticed something on the sofa. She crossed her arms and stared at her friend. "Why is there an ass-shaped paint stain on my couch?"

Joey's smile froze until he averted his gaze. "She asked you a question, Mike!" he shouted at Phoebe's husband putting up a banner on the other side of the room.

Joey turned and quickly exited the apartment. The back of his jeans covered in red paint.

"That's really good, Mike," Chandler said beside her. "Did you make that?"

Monica turned to see Mike stepping back from a beautiful banner he had just hung up which read "Welcome to the World Baby Bing" in beautiful lettering.

Mike shrugged. "Yeah, I did. Thanks. I've got to head to work though, guys. I'll see you tomorrow before you leave."

Monica nodded at him in reply. "See you!"

Mike stopped to look in the bassinette before he left. "Bye little babies. Hopefully you'll have some cool new Hannigan cousins to play with sometime soon," he said softly.

Monica grinned. It would be so exciting for Mike and Phoebe to have a couple of babies too.

As Mike gave one final wave and shut the door, Monica and Chandler found themselves finally alone in their apartment with Jack and Erica.

"So," she said, turning to her husband, the grin that had barely left her face since Jack and Erica had entered the world growing bigger. "We have our babies."

"We have our babies," Chandler echoed, a matching grin on his face.

"I just want to stare at them forever," Monica said, gazing down at Jack and Erica.

Chandler looped his arm around her waist. "Me too. They're so perfect."

Monica nodded, not speaking, leaning her head on her husband's shoulder.

"I still think Jack has your eyes," Chandler said after a moment. "Erica too."

Monica lifted her head up to look at Chandler as she laughed. "I don't think so, Chandler."

Chandler shrugged. "I know it doesn't make any sense, but it just looks like they do. It's like they were meant to be ours."

Monica kissed him quickly. "Of course they were meant to be ours." She turned back to the bassinette. "I just love them so much already."

Chandler nodded beside her. "I do too. I kind of feel like something was always missing from my life, and now it's all there; I have everything I could ever need: you and these little guys. You know, a whole family."

Monica wrapped her arms around her husband as she continued to stare down at Jack and Erica. She completely understood what Chandler was saying. After not being sure they could even get one baby, the fact that there were two sleeping in her apartment that were completely theirs was still amazing to her. They were a family. A happy, perfect, wonderful family.

The pair gazed down silently at the babies for a few more minutes, until Monica finally sighed. "I hate to say it, but we have a lot of packing to do."

She felt Chandler sigh beside her too. "I guess you're right. You go get changed, and I'll watch these two and get the baby monitor set up so we can pack up our bedroom and stuff."

Monica nodded at her husband and started to walk away, but then she stopped. "Chandler," she said.

Her husband looked up from the baby monitor box he was opening. "Yeah?"

"Thanks for the low motility sperm," she said, offering him a smile.

He grinned back at her. "And thanks for the uterus with an inhospitable environment." He looked thoughtful for a moment. "Things worked out pretty well for us, didn't they?"

Monica turned her head to the side slightly. "Yeah, they really did."

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><p><em>AN: Thanks so much for reading! Reviews are the best!_


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